


Let Love In

by liamthebastard



Series: Watching Over Us [2]
Category: Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 23:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/603045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liamthebastard/pseuds/liamthebastard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma has grown quite a bit, and it just might be that someday has arrived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Love In

"Up?" Jemma asked sweetly, holding up her chubby arms to Will. He laughed, swinging her up easily. She seemed so much smaller than she should be at a year and half old, but Tessa didn't seem concerned, so he tried to put it out of his mind.

Jemma shrieked with joy as Will tossed her lightly into the air and caught her again. She'd only started talking a month prior. Will had been reading her a story, and when it came to an end she looked at him evenly, with those disconcerting silver eyes. "Again," she'd ordered, as if she'd always known the word and just hadn't needed it until that moment.

Flabbergasted, Will had restarted the story. He reached the ending once again, and this time she nodded as if to say that'll do for now. He'd immediately turned to Tessa, who was sitting next to him in the library. She'd given him a smile, a genuine one that seemed to become more and more common as time went on.

He threw the toddle up again, making her giggle and bringing a grin to his face. He hadn't expected to enjoy fath- to enjoy Jemma this much. Tessa pushed open the door.

"Are you playing with my daughter in a room full of weapons?" she asked playfully, watching the two of them. Will caught Jemma with a grin, refusing to be abashed.

"Where else would we play? Henry banned us from the crypt," Will answered, bouncing Jemma lightly in his arms while he spoke. Tessa smiled at them both, coming near to lay one hand on Will's arm and the other on Jemma's silvery curls.

"You've really got a talent with her," Tessa said, studying Will's face. He didn't know what she found there, but it must have been good, because her eyes softened. Jemma looked seriously at her mother, laying a hand on her cheek.

"Mamma," she said in the peculiar little voice she used when she was being stubborn. Tessa beamed.

"Yes?" she answered, wrapping one of her daughter's curls around her finger.

Jemma looked frustrated, as if Tessa had interrupted her. "Mamma," she repeated, and then she moved her hand to Will's cheek. Her little fingers were slightly sticky- how, Will couldn't imagine, she hadn't been near anything remotely sticky since her bath. "Dada," Jemma finished.

A stone sank in Will's stomach. He tried to keep it hidden with a small smile as he removed her hand from his face. "No, Jemma-" he began, but Tessa gave his arm a squeeze, grabbing his attention.

"What rule says Jemma can't have two fathers?" Tessa asked quietly, her gray eyes large and nearly glowing. Will felt his heart stop and then pick up again, double-time. For once, he couldn't think of a thing to say. He had the words, but not the ability to speak them.

He'd held the promise of someday so close to him, until it almost seemed like a dream, something he'd made up himself to carry him through the dark times. And there were dark times, moments when he hated Jem for leaving, hated Tessa for making him feel the way she did, even hated Jemma at moments for being a constant reminder of his lost parabatai. Then he would remember the pure joy he'd felt in his attic bedroom the day Jemma was born, and it would somehow make things seem less hopeless. It had been the ray of light in a darkened room, keeping him centered on what really mattered and keeping the shadows at bay.

Very carefully, he set Jemma down. She looked back and forth between Tessa and Will, and then toddled off, knowing in her odd way that they needed a moment.

Such a smart girl, thought Will with a swell of pride. Then he turned his attention back to Tessa. She'd let go of his arm, but her eyes held him locked in place, kept him from moving away as she stepped closer.

"Will," she said lowly, uncertainty folding her eyebrows inwards, "I understand if you'd- rather not. For all I know, a lot may have changed in this time. But I would be lying if I didn't say I had hoped you would have been… pleased." She was stumbling over her words; she, Tessa, was having difficulty finding a way to say something. Without realizing he'd done it, she was gathered in his arms against him.

"Tess," he said quietly, giving himself permission to finally call her that, "I'm not- pleased isn't the right word. I'm…" He couldn't come up with anything. The one time it really, truly counted, and his repertoire of words had failed him. Finally, he gave in; his blood singing with her closeness, he bent down a gently kissed her.

He'd spent nearly two years telling himself that kissing her couldn't possibly be like he remembered; staying up hours into the night just to avoid waking from dreams of it, for every dream and urge was a betrayal. But now- now everything was different. Not because of Jem's passing- that would be wrong. No, it wasn't that Jem had moved on, but that Jem had given them his blessing to do what made them happy. And in that moment, Will knew nothing could ever make him happier than he was with Tessa.

A small hand tugged on his pants leg. He broke from Tessa for a moment to look down into Jemma's smiling face. She held her arms up to him once more. "Dada," she pronounced as Will scooped her up into a tight hug between the three of them.

"If your Mamma says yes," Will agreed, looking sheepishly over Jemma's head at Tessa. The mother blushed, a stain of color across her skin that Will yearned to reach out and touch- and, he realized with a rush of joy, he could.

"Well, how can I argue, it's two against one," Tessa commented, kissing first the top of Jemma's head and then Will's cheek. "Although I'll be expecting a ring soon."

"Naturally," Will replied with a grin, looking forward to it. Jemma gave a delighted giggle, and soon Will and Tessa joined her, sinking to the floor in genuine laughter as the little girl broke free and toddled around them. She came over on unsteady feet and patted Will awkwardly on the head.

"Love you," she said seriously, looking between Tessa and Will. They both seemed to shine, glowing with pride over the downy-headed child. She bounded off in her little way, bouncing from foot to foot.

Will turned to face Tessa. "Love you," he said, taking his lead from the child. After all, she hadn't steered him wrong yet.

Tessa's smile was pure light. "Love you," she answered, giving his hand a squeeze.

***

Jem smiled, watching the three in the library, a new family forming before his eyes. His brother and the woman they both loved, raising a child. "If I could," he declared to no one, "I wouldn't change a thing."

**Author's Note:**

> I've received some confusion on the ending- I'm implying that where Jem went after he died, he was able to watch over his daughter, Tessa and Will, and was pleased with how they'd moved on.


End file.
